This NASA/ESA Hubble Area Telescope picture reveals new particulars in Messier 82 (M82), dwelling to good stars whose mild is shaded by sculptural clouds made from clumps and streaks of mud and fuel. This picture options the star-powered coronary heart of the galaxy, positioned simply 12 million light-years away within the constellation Ursa Main (the Nice Bear). Popularly referred to as the Cigar Galaxy, M82 is taken into account a close-by galaxy.
It’s no shock that M82 is filled with stars. The galaxy types stars 10 occasions quicker than the Milky Means. Astronomers name it a starburst galaxy. The extraordinary starbirth interval that grips this galaxy gave rise to tremendous star clusters within the galaxy’s coronary heart. Every of those tremendous star clusters holds a whole bunch of 1000’s of stars and is extra luminous than a typical star cluster. Researchers used Hubble to dwelling in on these large clusters and reveal how they type and evolve.
Hubble’s earlier views of the galaxy captured ultraviolet and visual mild in 2012 and near-infrared and visual mild in 2006 to have fun Hubble’s sixteenth anniversary. NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and Spitzer Area Telescope additionally imaged this starburst galaxy. Combining the seen and near-infrared mild Hubble knowledge with Chandra’s x-ray and Spitzer’s deeper infrared view gives a detailed look on the galaxy’s stars, together with the mud and fuel from which stars type. Extra lately the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Area Telescope turned its eye towards the galaxy, producing infrared pictures in 2024 and earlier this 12 months. These a number of views at completely different wavelengths of sunshine present us with a extra correct and full image of this galaxy in order that we will higher perceive its setting. Every of those NASA observatories delivers distinctive and complementary details about the galaxy’s bodily processes. Combining their knowledge yields insights that improve our understanding in a method that no single observatory may accomplish alone. This picture options one thing not seen in beforehand launched Hubble pictures of the galaxy: knowledge from the Excessive Decision Channel of the Superior Digicam for Surveys.
Media Contact:
Claire Andreoli (claire.andreoli@nasa.gov)
NASA’s Goddard Area Flight Middle, Greenbelt, MD
